Radiance
by DarthMittens
Summary: Leona and Pantheon come together to attempt to repair a once beautiful friendship and explore unforgotten feelings. One-Shot.


**Radiance**

Leona sighed as she sat down on a step, incredibly glad the game was over, taking off some of her armor and rubbing the sore spots the heavy pieces left. It was tiring carrying all of that weight around for such an extended period of time, especially when Leona could feel the incompetence of her summoner.

Such a worry was trifling, however, when she had bigger problems on her mind. Pantheon had been on her team again, and once again she was going to have to sit and watch in silence as her childhood friend walked right past her, completely ignoring her. She didn't know what she had done to deserve such treatment; all she knew was that it had been several months since she had talked to him. It physically hurt to see him giving her the cold shoulder, and it hurt even more when he wouldn't even answer her when she asked why he was treating her like this. How could this have happened between them without her noticing?

Leona's head snapped up when she heard Pantheon's armor clinking together with each step he took, and her breath caught in her throat. He was so magnificent, and she was sure that even though she was a Solari, he shined far brighter than she ever would. She had always been a protector while he had always been a fierce warrior, so he had always been in the spotlight, even though he had never asked for it or particularly cared for it. It was the little things like that that had always made her like him in every sense of the word. The way he walked, the way he spoke, even the way his arm flexed when he thrusted his spear; all of it was so true to who he was as a person that it made Leona envious and left her in awe. How had she driven such a good friend and person away from her like this?

Leona lowered her eyes as Pantheon approached, not wishing to make things even more uncomfortable than they already were. This time, however, she was surprised when he took off his helmet, letting his medium-length brown hair out for some fresh air. He sat down next to her without saying a word, laying his weapons next to hers before methodically settling his helmet next to him.

They sat there for a long while, Leona sure that she should stay silent and let Pantheon mentally build up to what he was about to say. From his body language, she could sense that this wouldn't be a particularly easy or pleasant conversation, which actually made Leona slightly happy. Maybe he intended to work through what had made him completely ignore her. She wouldn't mind a brief period of discomfort if it meant she could have her childhood friend back.

A slight wind blew through the rift, forcing Leona to push an errant hair out of her eyes. It was at this moment that Pantheon chose to speak, softly saying, "I heard you broke up with Xin."

What an odd thing to bring up following such a long period of silence. She had thought the first words out of his mouth were either going to be an apology or a demand for her to apologize. She was glad that even though they had hit a rough patch, he still cared for her enough to offer her comfort when she needed it.

A small smile on her face, she shrugged. "I don't know that we were even really going out in the first place."

Pantheon, surprised, looked over at her and said, "But you said—"

Leona waved a dismissive hand in front of her face. "I know what I said. But I don't think we ever really liked each other all that much. We're pretty good friends, but after Diana cheated on him I didn't have the heart to say no when he asked me out. I was just…helping him back on his feet emotionally."

Pantheon was silent for a long while after that, digesting her words. Leona truly hoped he wouldn't decide to leave as soon as he saw that she wasn't really in any sort of emotional distress. He wasn't really the type to do such a thing even if he did go so long without talking to her. For some reason, Leona felt that things were close to being okay between the two of them.

Pantheon cleared his throat before he mumbled, "I've been a fool." He said it so quietly that Leona almost thought she had imagined it.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, looking at him inquisitively.

Pantheon quickly shook his head, slightly embarrassed that she had heard him. She hadn't been meant to hear that. "It's nothing," he added hastily.

Leona frowned at him, thinking that maybe things weren't quite as good as she had thought they had been if he was keeping secrets like this from her. She decided she wouldn't dwell on it though, choosing instead to try to instigate further conversation to keep him from leaving her again. "What about you and your girlfriend? How are things between you two?"

Pantheon looked slightly confused before he replied. "We, uh…we broke up a couple months ago. She decided I loved fighting more than I loved her."

Leona shook her head, a slight smile on her face. Any woman who went out with Pantheon after having already known him would know that she would have to fight for everything she was worth to get Pantheon to love her more than he loved fighting and war. He was born for it and trained for it his entire life, which was quite a timespan of loving one thing to overcome. That woman had been a fool.

A silence fell over them again, and Leona couldn't quite tell whether it was comfortable or awkward. Though Pantheon was a man of little words, Leona could always tell if he was purposefully being silent or just at a loss of words, but she didn't seem to possess that certain skill right now. There was too much tension between them at the moment to get a good feel of his emotions. Not only that, but he was being incredibly guarded with everything he said and did, as well, making things that much harder even though his behavior was understandable.

"So you never loved Xin?" Pantheon blurted, almost as though he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to ask the question.

Leona found it odd that he was bringing up Xin once again when she had literally just told him not two minutes ago what had happened between them. "No, I never loved Xin, and I know he knew that. "

Panth looked at her in confusion. "Then why did the two of you go out?"

Leona's confusion was quickly turning into annoyance. Did he just completely not listen to her when she was explaining everything earlier? "I told you already—I was helping him get over Diana. There wasn't much to our relationship beyond that. Plus, I already—" She quickly cut herself off before she revealed too much. She had almost said she loved him, so it had been impossible for her to be in love with Xin.

"You what?" Pantheon asserted quickly, not missing a single beat. Though he was heavy into war and battle, Pantheon was very sharp and quick.

Leona gritted her teeth, forcing out each word with the thought in mind that she shouldn't keep secrets from him. "I've already been in love with someone else all along," she admitted reluctantly.

That certainly made Panth's jaw drop. "You're what?" he asked.

Leona, her cheeks a crimson shade of red, slowly restated. "I've been in love with somebody since before I started going out with Xin."

Pantheon looked at her expectantly, obviously wishing for her to continue, but she was done with that subject. Before she could change it, though, Pantheon asked in a cryptic voice, "Well, who is it?"

Leona didn't know what o feel about the tone of voice he used when asking that question. It almost sounded like he was disappointed, but trying to hide it. But that couldn't be right, why in the name of Solari would he possibly be disappointed with her right now?

"I'd rather keep that to myself at the moment," she replied quietly, not meeting his eyes. She promised him she wouldn't lie to him, and dammit she was going to keep that promise, but she had absolutely no qualms about omitting this information from him. She wouldn't risk it right when he finally started talking to her again.

"Come on, Leona, you can tell me," Pantheon said, trying his best to manipulate her into telling him. "You know you can tell me anything. We're best friends."

Leona didn't know why, but Panth calling her his best friend sent her over the edge. "Yeah, because best friends don't talk to their best friends for almost eight months without telling them why," she snapped, not hesitating in the slightest when she saw the mix of guilt and hurt on Pantheons face. This was anger that she had been bottling for too long, and now that she had cracked the seal there was no closing it again. "They just leave without saying anything, ignore the other even when they so desperately want to make up, even when they can see how much their best friend is hurting on the inside. Even when the best friend knows he's destroying a relationship that had been building for decades faster than she can hold everything in place. God dammit Pantheon, what an excellent best friend you've been for the past eight months."

Leona was surprised to find angry tears brimming in her eyes, but was too angry to really care. He could see exactly the pain and hurt he had caused her and he would have to live with it whether he wanted to or not.

They sat in silence again as Pantheon expressed visible desperation in attempting to think of what he could say to calm her—to make everything right again—and each and every second he took made Leona that much angrier. Just when she was about to leave in a huff, Pantheon finally spoke, regret heavily lacing his voice. "I never liked that woman I went out with."

Leona didn't know if it was his tone of voice or what he had said, but she found her anger slightly dissipating. Maybe it was because she felt something big coming, though she didn't know if it was going to be a good big or a bad big.

"I only went out with her because you were going out with Xin," he admitted.

"What does me going out with Xin have to do with you going out with a girl?" Leona asked, confusion quickly dissolving her anger. This didn't make any sense.

"Everything," Pantheon replied immediately, determination in his voice. "Leona, I…I…" He cleared his throat to by some time. "I saw the success that you were having in your life and how seemingly happy you were at that moment, and I decided I needed it too."

"But what does that have to do with you ignoring me?" Leona asked, still not grasping the bigger picture.

Pantheon stood there for a long moment, his eyes fixed on hers, a war raging in his mind. This was where the strong stood apart from the weak. He mustered up every tiny ounce of courage he possessed, grabbed her upper arms, startling her, looked her dead in the eyes, and said, "Leona, I'm in love with you."

Leona had envisioned Pantheon saying those words in her head thousands of times, and every time she had responded with joy and declared her love for him as well. What she wasn't expecting was to be so dumbfounded that she could only must a confused, "What?"

"I've been in love with you for the longest time, Leona," he said, going the distance since there was no turning back now. "I was ignoring you because it hurt to talk to you knowing that I would never be with you. I was wrong to do that and I'm sorry. I should have been there for you."

Leona couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe this was really happening. A giant weight off her chest, she chuckled. "A lifetime of taking what you want and taking life and everything head on, and you get scared at the one thing you should be least scared of." She smiled at him and said, "I love you, Pantheon. I always have."

Shock passed over his features, and he flatly said, "I really have been a fool then. Please forgive me, Leona."

Leona said nothing, choosing instead to show her forgiveness by kissing him, euphoria surging through her body. When they broke apart they were both smiling, and still were as they left Summoner's Rift with their fingers intertwined.

**A/N: Another cheesy ending as usual. Oh well, I've resigned myself to this being my weak point long ago. Hope you all enjoyed, feel free to leave a review.**


End file.
